The Grey Art Gallery, previously located on Washington Square at New York University, is set to reopen in a purpose-designed, larger, and more visible space at 18 Cooper Square in lower Manhattan on Friday, March 2, 2024. With this move, the institution will be renamed the Grey Art Museum.
The new location in the NoHo Historic District is a transformative change, occupying the entire ground floor of a brick and iron building with a storefront façade facing a busy pedestrian thoroughfare. The facility at 18 Cooper Square includes three galleries, expanding the exhibition space by 40%. It also features a new study center to provide direct access to the collection for students, faculty, and researchers. Additionally, the lower level houses art preparation/fabrication shops, storage, and offices.
The move to 18 Cooper Square is seen as an opportunity for the Grey Art Museum to play a larger and more integral role in the university and the downtown arts community. The proximity to NYU’s provostial centers and institutes allows for enhanced collaboration with the university’s cultural and intellectual spheres, further serving the needs of students.
The transformation has been made possible, in part, by a generous gift from Dr. James Cottrell and Joseph Lovett, longstanding art patrons and social activists. Their donation includes more than 100 works of contemporary art from their extensive collection that focuses on downtown artists. One of the new galleries will be named the Cottrell-Lovett Gallery, and the research facility will be called the Cottrell-Lovett Study Center.
Lynn Gumpert, Grey Art Gallery Director
“Our new home at 18 Cooper Square is an ideal platform from which to play an even larger and more integral role in the life of the university and the downtown arts community, Because many of NYU’s provostial centers and institutes are housed next door, we will be able to collaborate even more extensively with the cultural and intellectual spheres of NYU’s global network and enhance our abilities to serve the needs of students.”
